Anasazi society still baffling archaeologists
Posted On: Jul 3rd, 2017 at 12:25
United States
One of the best articles I have ever come across regarding the Anasazi Indians – the Pueblo people of Chaco society. Personally, this is the most fascinating of all the North American cultures that existed prior to European colonisation (excluding Clovis).
This article highlights not only the complexities of Chaco society, but also the difficulties in interpreting the scientific data being extracted from DNA and other evidence.
It’s becoming clear, however, that the large houses, like those at Chaco Bonito, were places of burial and ritual. Previously it was thought that these were extremely large places where people may have lived, but some time ago it was discovered that this could not be the case due to the large amount of burials being found, unless of course the locals lived with the dead. Some societies did indeed live with dead relatives, but it’s hard to imagine how bad the smell was. That is clearly not the case with the Anasazi.
What we know even today about Native American cultures is how important their ancestors are, and what can be considered a ‘death cult’ is still prevalent in modern native societies. In fact, when one looks at all native American societies, from the north to the south, they were all involved in some way or another with such a cult, from basic and benevolent ancestor worship all the way up to advanced and sinister human sacrifice on a grand scale.
Anasazi culture was extremely complex and trade networks flourished as far south as southern Mexico. Their pottery and artwork was unique and often bizarre, with strange geometric designs reminiscent of those attributed to hallucinogenic visions, which would surprise me little – all native Americans were involved in consuming such substances. In fact, the death cults we see would never have occurred without such practices.
We are still extremely backwards when it comes to understanding native American cultures of the north, simply because we Europeans almost wiped them out, on top of considering their ritualistic practices as the work of the devil. Even today’s native American cultures live in a confused cloud, and have little left in the way of knowledge of their ancestors. Anthropologically speaking, we have committed a dreadful crime. An entire chapter in our history is missing, and is not likely to be recovered. We would know a lot more about our own history if the Europeans had not committed such genocide in the Americas. That’s why today archaeologists have only guesswork at their disposal when it comes to deciphering the clues provided.
